hiew

• hēow, hīw, hīow, hēo

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hiwi, from Proto-Germanic *hiwją (“shape, form, appearance, blee”), from Proto-Indo-European *kew- (“skin, complexion”).

Cognate with Bornholm Danish hy (“complexion”), Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐍅𐌹 (hiwi, “form, appearance”), Old Norse hý (“down of birds”), Swedish hy, Sanskrit छवि (chavi, “skin, hide, beauty, splendour”).

• IPA^(key): /xi͜yːw/,

hīew n

1. form, appearance, likeness
   • Early 11th c., Defensor's translation of Liber Scintillarum

     ...nā besēoh þū on wīfes hīw...

     ...do not look at a woman's appearance...

   • c. 996, Ælfric's Lives of Saints

     Þā ġeseah hē onġemang ōðrum twēġen ġeonge cneohtas, þæt hīe wǣron wlitiġe on hīewe and lange on wæstmum.

     Then he (Trajan) spotted two boys in the crowd and noticed they were beautiful in appearance and tall in stature.

   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Epiphany of the Lord"

     Eft embe ġēara ymbrynum hē wearð on his fulluhte on þysum dæġe middanġearde ġeswutelod, ðāðā sē Hālga Gāst, on culfran hīwe, uppon him ġereste, and þæs Fæder stemn of heofenum hlūde sweġde, þūs cweðende, "Þēs is mīn lēofa Sunu, þe mē wel līcað; ġehȳrað him."

     Again, after a course of years, he was, at his baptism, manifested to the world, when the Holy Ghost, in likeness of a dove, rested upon him, and the voice of the Father sounded loudly from heaven, thus saying, "This is my beloved Son who well pleaseth me; obey him."

2. form, character
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Andrew the Apostle"

     Ġif ðū leornian wille hū þæt ġewurðan mæġe, þonne undernim ðū leorning-cnihtes hīw, þæt þū ðās ġerȳnu leornian mæġe.

     If thou wilt learn how that can be, take a disciple's form, that thou mayest learn this mystery.

3. shape
4. colour / color

Strong a-stem:

• Middle English: hewe
  • English: hue
  • Scots: hew, hu, hue